Tag: NMR
Publication: how antibodies bind to the fuzzy coat of Huntingtin protein fibrils.
Congratulations to Raffaella for the publication of her second first-author paper, this time on the use of NMR spectroscopy to study how antibodies bind to the aggregated state of huntingtin protein fragments, relevant to Huntington’s disease. This work is part of our ongoing research on the biochemistry of Huntington’s disease, and was supported by funds from the European Huntington Disease Network EHDN and the CampagneTeam Huntington. Antibodies are widely used as diagnostic tools in HD research, and also are considered as potential treatment modalities. An example of the latter approach can be found in the case of Alzheimer’s disease, where […]
Webinar: GlycoScience Webinar on polysaccharide ssNMR research
On 27 March Patrick gave an online presentation in the EGC webinar series, on the topic of using solid-state NMR (and isotope labeling) to study polysaccharides in various contexts. The title of the presentation was: “Labeling and solid-state NMR studies of hyaluronic acid and other polysaccharides: hydrogels, nanoparticles and more” EGC Webinar #86 Glycochemistry (March 27, 4 pm CET) Patrick van der Wel (Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, the Netherlands) “Labeling and solid-state NMR studies of hyaluronic acid and other polysaccharides: hydrogels, nanoparticles and more” A recording of the lecture is visible via YouTube. In the presentation […]
Publication: Protocols for membrane protein studies by solid-state NMR (including drug interactions)
Our invited ‘protocol’ paper is now available in the journal Protein Science (Protein Society), authored by Alessia Lasorsa and Patrick van der Wel. In this report we described our “Solid-state NMR protocols for unveiling dynamics and (drug) interactions of membrane-bound proteins”. This paper was based on an invitation to contribute to the “Tools for Protein Science 2025” special issue. We opted for contributing a discussion of how we use solid-state NMR to probe membrane-bound proteins. More specifically, we summarized protocols we developed in years of work on mitochondrial lipid-protein interactions. A special focus in the report is on some recent […]
Publication: Peptide-based self-assemblers and self-replicators (with insights from ssNMR).
Congratulations to our collaborators in the group of Sijbren Otto (RUG), and Alessia, for the new paper in the journal Chem. This report discusses how self-assembling and self-replicating molecules can borrow principles from polypeptide amyloid formation. In particular, the concept of ‘steric zippers’ proves to be highly relevant – an idea from the amyloid field that comes out of seminal work by the group of David Eisenberg (UCLA). Our contributions in this new paper relate to the use of 1D and 2D solid-state NMR analysis of the self-assembled materials, in samples where targeted isotope-labeled amino acids were incorporated. With these […]
Publication: NMR of 13C-labeled hyaluronic acid hydrogels (in context of ECM)
Congratulations to PhD student Pushpa Rampratap (and her co-authors!) on the publication of a new paper on the use of solid-state NMR spectroscopy to study hydrogels that mimic aspects of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Building on her previously published approach to produce 13C labeled hyaluronic acid (HA; with very high molecular weights), she performed extensive series of magic-angle-spinning NMR analyses of HA hydrogels under various conditions. Notably, this included ECM-mimicking conditions that are commonly used in cell culture and biomedical engineering studies (using the Geltrex ECM extract). The resulting (very nice) paper shows the power of combining 13C enrichment with […]
Educational webinar on the use of ssNMR to measure dihedral angles.
Recently, Patrick gave an online lecture in the online webinar tutorial series of the Global NMR Discussion Meetings series (episode 70!). In this online lecture he introduced and discussed approaches to measure torsion angles (or dihedral angles) using advanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy. He discussed the basic idea of how these are implemented in ssNMR, but also how such structural data can be a useful complement to more traditional inter-atomic distance information obtained by ssNMR. You can now watch the recording of this lecture on Youtube, via this link. Want to learn even more? This lecture is connected to our recent […]
Job search: NMR spectroscopist being recruited at the RuG
The University of Groningen is looking to hire a NMR spectroscopist for the solution NMR facility associated with the chemistry-focused Stratingh Institute. Ad is here: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S0009SXP&cat=obp Note that this position is not associated with our research group. The mentioned NMR facility is part of the Stratingh Institute and focuses on solution NMR studies.
Competitive PhD Scholarships call open (deadline April 1st)
Our Institute and Faculty have opened up a competitive call for PhD scholarship applications. Our solid-state NMR group participates in one of the research theme areas, designated as “Advanced Materials”, which spans topics from physics of life, via bio-inspired materials, to materials and much more. The process is described in some detail on the RuG website. Briefly, applicants (with a MSc degree) are expected to contact a PI/supervisor (immediately!) and develop a fitting project to submit. The submission deadline of an initial idea (few hundred words) is due by April 1st 2020! Suitable ideas are expected to fit within designated […]